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It isn’t backed by a physical asset like gold or oil. Proof-Of-Work Is The Only Viable Form Of ConsensusBitcoin’s consensus mechanism ensures that work needs to be done in order for transactions to confirm and secures bitcoin in the fairest manner. «All Bitfinex clients to share 36% loss of assets following exchange hack». «Transaction details for bitcoins stolen from Instawallet».
Available supply or circulating supply is the best approximation of coins or tokens in circulation and publicly available. Buy, https://www.beaxy.com/ store, swap and spend your favorite crypto all in one secure app. Buy crypto with a credit card, debit card or Apple Pay.
Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. Yet the hefty investor losses from the FTX collapse could serve to kick regulators into action, said Charley Cooper, communications chief at blockchain technology firm R3. Retail trading has grown increasingly difficult as deeper-pocketed, more sophisticated investors like hedge funds entered crypto as the asset class grew.
Bitcoin PRICE HISTORY
A study from the Bank of International Settlements , conducted between 2015 and 2022, estimated that 73% to 81% likely lost money on their investments in cryptocurrencies. November saw a 7-day realized loss of $10.16 billion in bitcoin investments as investors were forced to exit long-term positions, the fourth-largest loss on record by this measure, according to Glassnode data. But consider that a significant amount of bitcoin is also being held by investors. Those investors do not plan to sell their bitcoin for some time because they are speculating that due to its utility as MoIP, demand will continue to rise and so too will its value. They buy bitcoins at a lower price then sell them at a higher value.
Data displayed are based on user input and not Binance’s opinion. Binance Earn for a principal guaranteed approach to earn the same number of Bitcoins deposited to Savings and Staking returned to you along with yields paid out in the same type of token. See our Terms & Conditions and FAQs for more details.
This marked the first time a government agency claimed to have seized bitcoin. In June 2011, WikiLeaks and other organizations began to accept bitcoins for donations. Due to its pioneer status, a lot of investors view it as the crypto market’s reserve so other coins depend on its value to remain high. Bitcoin is valued as a useful form of money, and is measured by its growth of users, merchants and accepted locations. Popularity is based on the relative market cap of assets.
The CFTC swap product approval marks the first time a U.S. regulatory agency approved a bitcoin financial product. In June 2014, the network exceeded 100 petahash/sec. On 18 June 2014, it was announced that bitcoin payment service provider BitPay would become the new sponsor of St. Petersburg Bowl under a two-year deal, renamed the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl. Bitcoin was to be accepted for ticket and concession sales at the game as part of the sponsorship, and the sponsorship itself was also paid for using bitcoin. Please also note that data relating to the above-mentioned cryptocurrency presented here are based on third party sources.
Everything is done publicly through a transparent, immutable, distributed ledger technology called blockchain. Bitcoin users predict 94% of all bitcoins will have been released by 2024. As the total number creeps toward the 21 million mark, many suspect the profits miners once made creating new blocks will become so low MATIC they’ll become negligible. But with more bitcoins in circulation, people also expect transaction fees to rise, possibly making up the difference.
The process of requiring network contributors to dedicate time and resources to creating new blocks ensures the network remains secure. As of 2021, the Bitcoin network consumes about 93 terawatt hours of electricity per year – around the same energy consumed by the 34th-largest country in the world. By early 2013, the leading cryptocurrency had recovered from a prolonged bearish episode and rose above $1,000, albeit only briefly. But with the infamous Mt Gox hack, China announcing its first ban on crypto and other situations, it took a further four years for the BTC price to return to above $1,000 again. Once that level was passed, however, bitcoin’s price continued to surge dramatically throughout 2017 until BTC peaked at its previous long-standing all-time high of $19,850. In February 2011, BTC’s price reached parity with the U.S dollar for the first time.
The current value of Bitcoin is derived from the balance of supply and demand in the markets, and it constantly changes. The price of Bitcoin also sometimes moves with or in response to changes in the wider economy. For example, Bitcoin made impressive gains in 2020 while many national economies closed down and an unprecedented amount of fiat currency was printed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bitcoin transactions are recorded on a public, distributed ledger known as a “blockchain” that anyone can download and help maintain. This means, however, that the old blockchain can continue operation and can continue to accept transactions, even though it might not be compatible with the newer version of Bitcoin in question here. He downloaded the bitcoin software on the release date, and on January 12th of 2009, he actually received 10 BTC from Nakamoto directly.
How to Buy Bitcoin With a Credit Card
You just need to make sure you’re providing the right one. An American nonprofit called the Bitcoin Foundation was founded in 2012 to support the development and adoption of the Bitcoin protocol. After three years, however, the foundation eventually ran out of cash and was dissolved. Whoever successfully unlocks the next block is rewarded with a set number of bitcoin known as “block rewards” and gets to add a number of transactions to the new block. They also earn any transaction fees attached to the transactions they add to the new block. A new block is discovered roughly once every 10 minutes.
Bitcoin SV enables NextGen NFT’s with low fees and 4 GB+ on-chain file support. The decision to build on the BSV Blockchain was ultimately an easy one as it is the only protocol that offers true scalability, doesn’t face backlogs, and is inexpensive, says Steve Smid, Project Manager at Gate2Chain. Discover how Bitcoin SV has delivered Satoshi’s vision of One Global Blockchain.
A Wired study published April 2013 showed that 45 percent of bitcoin exchanges end up closing. On 12 March 2013, a bitcoin miner running version 0.8.0 of the bitcoin software created a large block that was considered invalid in version 0.7 . This split resulted in two separate transaction logs being formed without clear consensus, which allowed for the same funds to be spent differently on each chain.
Stablecoin issuer Circle terminates $9 billion SPAC deal as crypto winter rages on
On 5 December 2013, the People’s Bank of China prohibited Chinese financial institutions from using bitcoins. After the announcement, the value of bitcoins dropped, and Baidu no longer accepted bitcoins for certain services. Buying real-world goods with any virtual currency had been illegal in China since at least 2009. In April, payment processors BitInstant and Mt. Gox experienced processing delays due to insufficient capacity resulting in the bitcoin exchange rate dropping from $266 to $76 before returning to $160 within six hours.
Several hundred of these back-and-forths make up a block. Up until July 2017, bitcoin users maintained a common set of rules for the cryptocurrency. On 1 August 2017 bitcoin split into two derivative digital currencies, the bitcoin chain with 1 MB blocksize limit and the Bitcoin Cash chain with 8 MB blocksize limit. The split has been called the Bitcoin Cash hard fork. Satoshis) to each of two different addresses on the network. Within hours, the transaction was spotted, the bug was fixed, and the blockchain was forked by miners using an updated version of the bitcoin protocol.
- In July 2014, Newegg and Dell started accepting bitcoin.
- Celsius has also asked the court to let it sell $18 million of user-deposited crypto to pay its bills, in a tussle over who the assets belong to.
- The history of bitcoin started with its invention and implementation by Satoshi Nakamoto, who integrated many existing ideas from the cryptography community.
- In 2009 it was 50, then in 2013, it halved to 25, then in 2018, it halved again to 12.5, and as of 2020, it halved yet again to 6.25.
- Bitcoinassociation.net needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding.
Since the blockchain was forked below the problematic transaction, the transaction no longer appears in the blockchain used by the Bitcoin network today. This was the only major security flaw found and exploited in bitcoin’s history. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are like the email of the financial world. The currency doesn’t exist in a physical form, and the coin is transacted directly between the sender and the receiver without banking intermediaries to facilitate the transaction.
There is no physical BTC token so you can think of bitcoin as digital money. Bitcoin transactions are fully transparent and can’t be censored. You can send crypto to anyone in the world with ease.
Crypto.com may not offer certain products, features and/or services on the Crypto.com App in certain jurisdictions due to potential or actual regulatory restrictions. The number of Bitcoins minted per block to reward miners will continue to halve roughly every four years until a total of 21 million BTC has been minted. Over the 10 years ended 1 July 2021, Bitcoin’s price grew at a compound annual growth rate of 116.41%. Figures like these make Bitcoin worth consideration from any serious investor. The BTC price level flirted with zero for a while, then finally broke the symbolic $1 mark in February 2011, establishing a BTC to USD price ratio of one to one. A few months later, Bitcoins were trading for more than 10 euros each.
When the Bitcoin exchange rate rose more than 1,900% in a single year, the world took notice. It became common to see a Bitcoin calculator on web pages devoted to tracking world currencies. The Bitcoin converter was intended to tell investors and the public what the cryptocurrency was currently worth. The Bitcoin to USD price ratio made headlines every time it rose or fell by a few percentage points. They used the exchange’s software to sell them all nominally, creating a massive «ask» order at any price. Within minutes, the price reverted to its correct user-traded value.
This fork is subsequently resolved by the software which automatically chooses the longest chain, thereby orphaning the extra blocks added to the shorter chain . The number of businesses accepting bitcoin continued to increase. In January 2017, NHK reported the number of online stores accepting bitcoin in Japan had increased 4.6 times over the past year. BitPay CEO Stephen Pair declared the company’s transaction rate grew 3× from January 2016 to February 2017, and explained usage of bitcoin is growing in B2B supply chain payments. There are thousands of transactions, and it takes 10 minutes for a new block to be confirmed and added to the blockchain.
The cryptocurrency and whole concept were created by a person or a group of people that went by the name of «Satoshi Nakamoto,» where he, she, or they mined the first genesis block on January 3rd of 2009. Embedded in the coin base of this block was the text «The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on the brink of second bailout for banks». A transaction is the transfer of value between a bitcoin wallet to another bitcoin wallet, and each of them needs to be included in the blockchain. The term ‘altcoins’ is short for alternative coins. Given that Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to surface in the market, the other digital currencies that emerged are referred to as altcoins. There are several differences between a blockchain and a database, including the level of control.


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GUS shares fell 20 per cent to 340.5p, their lowest level since early 1993, as analysts cut their full year profit forecasts. Several expressed concerns about the future of the group's declining "big book" catalogue business.
Sales at GUS home shopping division, which includes the Kays catalogue, fell by 7 per cent in the six months to September as shoppers defected to cheaper high street rivals like Matalan and New Look. Profits at the division sank by 70 per cent to just pounds 14.5m due to other issues such as rising bad debts and distribution problems. "These are all signs of a business in disarray," one analyst said.
Analysts were also unconvinced by the recovery plan outlined by Lord Wolfson, GUS' chairman, and his apparent dismissal of City fears. "What was alarming was the sense of contempt for investors and analyst concerns," one said. "He skimmed over the presentation and didn't treat questions with the respect they deserved."
The comments came as GUS reported a 12 per cent fall in half year pre- tax profits to pounds 176m, if exceptional charges are excluded. But current trading is worse with GUS's home shopping business struggling against a weak retail market which is being hit by pre-Christmas discounting.
GUS said the tough trading conditions meant it would not meet market expectations of pounds 500m pre-tax profit for the full year. Analysts have downgraded to pounds 420m-pounds 450m instead.
Lord Wolfson admitted that GUS's catalogue prices had been too high. He said the catalogue's historic attraction of easy access to credit for cash-strapped shoppers had been eroded by the increasing availability of credit cards. "Our price levels are not as attractive as they should be," he said.
Lord Wolfson said GUS' prices would need to come down by around 10 per cent and that costs would have to cut. "Home shopping might need to operate profitably at a lower level of sales," he said.
GUS is also hoping to balance falling sales in its traditional agency business with higher sales through Argos Additions, a new catalogue being introduced in the Argos stores which were acquired via a pounds 1.9bn hostile takeover 18 months ago. Prices in these catalogues have been "unbundled" to strip out the credit offer and are up to 25 per cent cheaper.
GUS claimed it was now in a position to take advantage of e-commerce opportunities. It has registered the domain name bringme.com as a possible prelude to offering third party distribution services to Internet retailers.
Lord Wolfson admitted that GUS "probably has been a bit slow to recognise these opportunities". Analysts said that the new chief executive, John Peace, who takes the position in January, will have his work cut out to restore shareholder value. Mr Peace said there were no current plans to de-merge the Experian financial information business before 2001 when it would have a three-year trading record.
GUS also said it had no current plans to sell its Burberry luxury goods business which is still recovering from the impact of the Asian crisis.
GUS group sales rose by 4 per cent to pounds 2.5bn at the half year stage. Experian increased profits by 15 per cent to pounds 95m. Argos profits rose 8 per cent to pounds 31m.

domain: news


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A sex robot company is offering clones that can replace dead partners using groundbreaking 3D modelling, the Daily Star can reveal.
Manufacturer Lux Botics says it produces “ultra-realistic humanoids” and advertises a flagship model called Stephanie.
She comes with speech control, a facial recognition function, and artificial intelligence capabilities.
However, customers who want a more familiar companion are able to recreate loved ones.
Initially, a 3D model would be created using sophisticated modelling before being printed out in a “very fine resolution”.
Lux Botics can also collect photos of the individual, but the end product would not be as realistic.
A mould would be constructed from the 3D model, with a robotic skeleton placed inside.
The robot would be painted and fitted with lips, nails, eyebrows and all other required features.
The artists involved are expected to charge $5,000 [£3,640]-$10,000 [£7,280] for one model, while the printing would cost $3,000 [£2,184]-$5,000. The mould would set customers back an additional $5,000.
Lux Botics co-founder Bjorn told the Daily Star: “We can make robots that talk but we have not made robots that truly walk on their own.
“We hope to develop this in the near future. We can make a large number of body parts that can move in a realistic manner.”
He added: “We have so far not made any body doubles but we do offer this choice for customers.”
They received some bizarre requests, with certain customers demanding dolls with human skeletons and animal-human hybrids.
However, others have begun to use their models as an emotional crutch.
Many of the company’s customers complained that they can’t “meet people or date easily” using its online chat service.
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Co-founder Louie Love said: “Some…lost partners due to Covid and want a doll to aid with the grieving process, so it's rewarding to be a part of that kind of healing process and know we're genuinely helping people.
“Many people who wouldn't normally even think of dolls as an option have turned their attention toward dolls.
“We've seen a huge increase in interest from couples as well, perhaps they might be stuck at home looking at ways to keep sex interesting during lockdown or exploring safe ways to try threesomes.”


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Luxury residential neighborhood, Beachwalk, has opened its clubhouse with a limited number of private membership passes for guests outside its community.
The pass offers access to the clubhouse and its amenities, such as a 300 square-foot fitness center, full-service dining, tennis courts, a putting green and even a playground for dogs.
“Dogs aren’t allowed in the lagoon, but the developers felt strongly about them having a place to play,” said Sarah Hall, aquatic operations manager for Beachwalk. “We also have kayaks, paddleboards, waterslides and even floating volleyball.”
The lagoon, itself, is a chemically controlled and filtered man-made lagoon, with shaded underwater seats added shallower areas for guests to relax while they order drinks at Beachwalk’s swim-up bar.
“[Guests] are very excited for the bar to open and the view is breathtaking. There’s nothing like it,” Hall said.
Developed by Lennar, Americrest and Vintage Estate Homes, Beachwalk is home to 961 family units and 1 million square feet of retail commercial space and 700,000 square feet of office space.
“It’s been exciting to watch this development grow from a dirt lot to a breathtaking lagoon with amazing amenities with wonderful residents,” Hall said. “It was made for them to be able to drive their golf carts, enjoy a day “at the beach” or have lunch at its town center, without having to leave the community.
Only a limited number of membership passes are available while supplies last. For more information, visit www.Clubbeachwalk.com.
Beachwalk is located at 100 Beachwalk Club Drive in St. Johns, Florida.


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- 1 min read
MakeMyTrip partners with BluSmart to launch EV for airport transfers
MakeMyTrip will also ensure that these EV vehicles meet the MySafety standards
To help travellers make more sustainable travel choices, MakeMyTrip has partnered with BluSmart to launch Electric Vehicles (EV) for airport transfers. With this, the company aims to encourage customers to consciously opt for eco-healthy travel options while choosing and booking first and last-mile transportation. The new offering is currently available for customers in Delhi-NCR region. MakeMyTrip will also ensure that these EV vehicles meet the MySafety standards established in compliance to the guidelines of WHO and local health authorities.
Parikshit Choudhury, Chief Business Officer – Ground Transport of MakeMyTrip said, “Sustainable travel that was once considered a niche has now found a whole new meaning following the coronavirus pandemic. The ongoing uncertainty has pushed environment-friendly travel up the agenda of the entire industry as well as among travellers. At MakeMyTrip, as we remain deeply rooted in promoting responsible tourism, we have found a great partner in BluSmart which shares a common philosophy of making travel sustainable. With this partnership, we hope to improve accessibility of cost-efficient, go-green transit options while promising safety at all times for travellers as well as driver partners.”
Anmol Singh Jaggi, Founder & CEO, BluSmart Mobility said, "BluSmart is on a mission to solve the problem of reliability, safety and pollution in the mega cities of India and we are excited to partner MakeMyTrip and take this endeavour forward. Now MakeMyTrip users will have an option to choose a clean mobility service, which in these Covid times is ensuring the highest standards of sanitisation, for their airport travel needs in Delhi NCR. This partnership will accelerate the transition to electric mobility and contribute towards keeping the Delhi skies blue."


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Apple will charge for iPad iOS 4 upgrade
Our spy-like chums at Stuff UK have gotten wind of Apple’s rather nefarious (to some) plans to charge for iPad updates. Since iOS 4 was rolled out to later-model iPhones, the iPod Touch and of course, the iPhone 4, iPad owners have had to wait patiently for the right to multitask.
But according to some trusted developers, when iOS 4 does become available for your trusty tablet this autumn you’ll have to pay for it.
There’s no details on how much Apple will charge tablet-owners for the right to upgrade, and Apple has refused our pleas to comment (Apple doesn’t comment on rumours and speculation). That said, the top secret plans to charge were whispered to the team in the UK by developers working on a future iPad app.
Asked how sure they were about the forthcoming iOS 4 charge, our source replied, “Definite.”
This cash-hungry tactic isn’t new to Apple, it has previously charged iPod Touch users for upgrades.
What do you think? Will you pay for your iPad’s upgrade? Or will you be chuckin’ it out of spite? Let us know in the comments below.


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TripAdvisor’s Acquisition of Citymaps Aimed at Improving Marketing of Location-Based Activities
The silence of a relatively quiet year for TripAdvisor and its numerous online contemporaries in terms of acquisitions was finally broken with TripAdvisor’s acquisition of New York-based Citymaps — a platform offering users map-based guides of ‘to do things’. This is TripAdvisor’s second acquisition in 2016, the first being Housetrip — a London-based vacation rental website. TripAdvisor did not reveal terms of both the acquisitions. TripAdvisor said that Citymaps will stay as a standalone business even after the acquisition.
TripAdvisor’s hotel offerings accounted for 81% of revenue in the second quarter. Both the 2016 acquisitions are an extension of TripAdvisor’s objective of establishing its non-hotel business, inclusive of restaurants. The company aims at offering travelers the “perfect trip” by easing research related to trip planning, hotel and vacation rental accommodation, and of course, all the in-destination ‘to do’ things. Citymaps will assist TripAdvisor with the latter.
TripAdvisor has their own mapping features to help travelers search and book whatever they need at their destinations — this is where they plan to leverage their new acquisition. The acquisition will also help TripAdvisor establish location-based marketing for tours and related activities. Citymaps has the technology to aid TripAdvisor personalize these marketing efforts in a much more streamlined manner, which is primarily why TripAdvisor went ahead with the acquisition.
Adam Medros, Senior Vice President, Global Product, TripAdvisor, said in a release, “The Citymaps team understands how people experience their day through a maps lens. We are excited to welcome the team to the TripAdvisor family of brands to help TripAdvisor ensure its mapping features best address the needs of its users who are increasingly accessing the site on mobile devices.”
Another logic behind this acquisition is TripAdvisor’s knowledge about how mapping technology is rapidly growing in importance for travelers. According to its “TripBarometer Connected Traveler” report dated last year, 81% US travelers alone use maps on their smartphones whenever they are traveling. Several tourists from other countries are also increasingly using maps on their mobile devices.
Citymaps, founded six years ago, managed to raise $12 million funding from renowned investors such as actor Ashton Kutcher, Coatue Management, and Nokia Growth Partners, among others. As of March 2016, Citymaps reported that it had approximately one million users and they generated revenue through partnerships, licensing and booking deals, and advertising. Citymaps is available on Android, iOS, desktop web, and mobile.


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Dame Helen Mirren has pushed back on the notion that older women are supposed to keep their hair short.
Thestar of The Queen, 77, revealed that she started growing her hair during the Covid-19 lockdown and “couldn’t be bothered to cut it”.
She addressed the stereotype that ageing women are not “supposed” to have long hair and described her chest-length hair as “radical”.
In an appearance on Lorraine on Wednesday (8 March), Mirren said: “You’re not supposed to have longer hair after a certain age.
“But during Covid, I started growing my hair and I hadn’t actually had long hair since I was in my 20s. And it sort of grew and grew and grew, and I couldn’t be bothered to cut it, basically.”
She continued: “I thought, do you know what, it’s pretty cool, I think I’ll stick with it for a little while. It will come off eventually.
“But I’m kind of enjoying it, it’s quite radical.”
The Oscar-winning actor, who stars in the forthcoming superhero movie Shazam! Fury of the Gods, has previously hit back at beauty standards for older women.
In 2019, she told Grazia that her generation has been subjected to ageism for “far too long” and that she hated the term “anti-ageing”.
Mirren said: “It’s extremely annoying to women of my generation and others following mine to have beauty products sold on a 15-year-old face.”
She also said she doesn’t like using the term “beauty” because it makes people who are insecure about their looks feel “immediately excluded”.
“They’ll think, ‘Well, I’m not very beautiful. It’s all very well for all these beautiful women, but I don’t feel beautiful’,” she explained.
“I don’t want to exclude these people from feeling fabulous about themselves.”
Elsewhere during her interview on Lorraine, Mirren opened up about what it meant to “fly the flag” for women over 60.
She said: “Life doesn’t stop. And creativity doesn’t stop and passion doesn’t stop and energy doesn’t stop, unless you decide to stop it.
“So it’s just be self-motivated, really, and never give up. And find enjoyment, if it’s possible in your life.”
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Internet millionaire, Tom Gonzales, is selling his sprawling Lake Tahoe compound for $50 million. Besides the stellar views, the estate has one other key selling point: An underground garage that can house 30 que-home-Tahoe/index.html?iid=ELcars.
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AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX was previously overclocked to 5.4 GHz and now another overclocking enthusiast has overclocked the chip to 6 GHz. The chip comes with 32 cores and 64 threads, making it the first CPU with such a high core count to make it to such a high frequency.
Ivan Cupa, an Indonesian enthusiast was able to get the CPU to 6 GHz using LN2 cooling and you might recall that Intel showed off a 28 core CPU at Computex 2018 and the chip ran at 5 GHz. It was later found that the chip was not running at 5 GHz natively and was overclocked using an industrial chiller to keep it cool.
That was very misleading indeed and we also learned that this was not a new chip or even a prototype but an older SKU. AMD Threadripper has been able to deliver more cores and threads and even though it does not get to 5 GHz, you can cool it on air which is way better than cooling a chip using an industrial chiller.
We have heard that Intel is going to introduce a new X599 chipset in order to support the 28 core CPU and that there will be a new socket as well but if we look at things logically, it is unlikely that the chip will be able to hit 5 GHz without some kind of exotic cooling. It will take a few years before this is possible keeping in mind how much heat 28 cores will dissipate at 5 GHz. Not to mention the amount of power you need in order to run the CPU at such a high frequency.
All things considered the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX and the other chips in the series are pretty good in terms of performance and value for money and I am sure that the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX will put a lot of pressure on Intel, which is not in a good place right now, keeping in mind that the 10nm process has been delayed and that the chips that will be coming out this year and the first half of 2019 will be based on the 14nm process.
Let us know what you think about the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX and whether or not this is something that you are interested in.


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Microsoft launches wave of products with Windows Server 2008, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2008
Posted on 28-Feb-2008 12:01
Filed under: News
Microsoft Corp.’s Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer is kicking off more than 225 events around the world showcasing the company's next generation of infrastructure and application platform products, including Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008.
The company says these new enterprise products help customers more efficiently and securely manage their entire infrastructure and move to a virtualized environment while also delivering business intelligence and next-generation Web experiences.
The theme of the events, “Heroes Happen Here,” highlights the work that IT professionals, developers and partners do every day to create solutions and cutting-edge applications that keep global commerce and industry running.
IT professionals and developers tell us they spend too much time and money managing existing systems and not enough investing in new capabilities that create strategic advantage,” Ballmer said. “That feedback is at the core of the innovations in this new wave of products. Already, the overwhelming response from thousands of IT professionals and developers around the world is that this is the most secure enterprise platform we have ever delivered, and that it will simplify management and enable them to focus more on driving their businesses forward.”
Already IT professionals and developers around the world are using Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and test versions of SQL Server 2008 to implement secure platforms and Web applications.
Geekzone is currently hosted on a Windows Server 2008 platform.
Windows Server 2008, including a beta version of the Hyper-V virtualization technology, and Visual Studio 2008 are available now. The feature-complete, February community technology preview of SQL Server 2008 is also available, with general availability expected in the third quarter of 2008.
Later this year Microsoft will release the Windows Essential Server Solutions family of products for small and midsize companies built on Windows Server 2008 and the newest Microsoft server technologies and services: Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008. Windows HPC Server 2008, the successor to Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, is on track for availability in the second half of 2008 and is designed to increase productivity, scalability and manageability for high-performance computing scenarios. In addition, Windows Storage Server 2008, the next-generation storage solution based on Windows Server 2008, will be available by the end of the year.
Microsoft disclosed new performance results on TPC-E and SAP Sales and Distribution (SD) Standard Application 3-tier benchmarks running on four-socket industry-standard blade servers. Microsoft also published breakthrough performance benchmarks for several customer scenarios, including leading results on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Siemens Teamcenter and Camstar Manufacturing Execution Systems.
The company says that Microsoft Windows Server 2008 with .NET Framework 3.5 delivers faster throughput than IBM WebSphere 6.1 on Red Hat Linux as shown through two new benchmark tests measuring scalability and performance in mission-critical enterprise scenarios. The sample application shows 117 percent better throughput of Windows Server using the IBM-designed Trade 6.1 benchmark; and Sun Microsystems’ WSTest Web services benchmark demonstrates 94 percent better throughput on Windows Server when processing Web Service requests.


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2017 Mitsubishi Mirage Named Among KBB.com’s ’10 Most Affordable New Cars’
The 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage was recently called the “Most Affordable Car to Lease” on the market but it turns out that if you’re more interested in buying than leasing, the Mirage remains a good bet for saving money.
Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com has released its annual list of the “10 Most Affordable New Cars” of the year and it featured the 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage in seventh place. The recognition is based not just on starting MSRP but also on depreciation, financing and insurance costs, and fuel costs. As a result the list does not feature the cars that are outright cheapest to buy at the dealership but rather the cheapest cars to own and drive for a full five-year period.
With its remarkably low starting price of $12,995 and excellent fuel economy, it’s no surprise the Mitsubishi Mirage found itself on the list. In fact, with an EPA-estimated 37 mpg city and 43 mpg highway (corroborated by KBB’s own real-world findings), the Mirage is the most fuel-efficient gas-powered non-hybrid car in America.
What’s more, for such an affordable car, the Mirage offers a surprising amount of features, ranging from available Apple CarPlay™ and Android Auto™ to a 300-watt Rockford-Fosgate™ sound system. Additionally, the peace of mind and maintenance savings that come with the 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty and the other excellent warranties is unmatched in the industry, save by Kia and Hyundai.
“The Mirage and Mirage G4 keep affordability top of mind without compromising efficiency, connectivity and reliability for buyers looking for a new car,” said Don Swearingen, executive vice president and chief operating officer, MMNA. “We’re honored to see Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com recognize Mitsubishi’s value story, which is much more than just the price of the vehicle.”
Source: Kelley Blue Book


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Leuthold Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,392 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 223 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.3% of Leuthold Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,631,000. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 5,525.0% during the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 225 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Shore Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. St. James Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Emerson Wealth LLC increased its stake in Apple by 363.6% in the first quarter. Emerson Wealth LLC now owns 408 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 57.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Apple Trading Down 2.3 %
NASDAQ AAPL opened at $167.57 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.04 and a 12 month high of $182.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $2.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $151.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.22.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 28th. The iPhone maker reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 25.71% and a return on equity of 152.97%. The firm had revenue of $82.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
Apple Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 5th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.18%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple
In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.77, for a total transaction of $4,119,250.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 427,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,411,823.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 96,735 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.95, for a total value of $16,923,788.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 110,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,362,241.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.77, for a total transaction of $4,119,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 427,334 shares in the company, valued at $70,411,823.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts have commented on the company. Credit Suisse Group upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $201.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, April 29th. Fundamental Research set a $177.07 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 4th. Finally, Itaú Unibanco started coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 26th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $136.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.18.
Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. It also sells various related services. In addition, the company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; AirPods Max, an over-ear wireless headphone; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, HomePod, and iPod touch.
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PLUS: What is Etsy’s secret sauce?
|The Big Idea|
ESPN is pivoting to subscriptions. Will it work?
ESPN — the Disney-owned sports behemoth — is shaking things up:
Combined, these moves mirror the new focus of ESPN’s parent company on direct-to-consumer and subscription-based businesses.
Considering the subscription model is seemingly everywhere (*cough* Trends *cough*) what took ESPN so long?
Answer: the cable bundle
The rise of streaming has led to a steady decline in cable subscribers. Despite the downward trend, ESPN has been hesitant to leave the cable bundle, which packages hundreds of channels together for one monthly price.
Rather, the sports broadcasting giant is making up for lower volume by flexing its pricing power.
While most cable companies charge less than $1 per subscriber per month, ESPN charges $9 across its network and brought in an estimated $11B for Disney last year (translation: people can’t quit live sports).
ESPN doesn’t want to cannibalize this sweet deal but it clearly sees the writing on the wall.
The company has experience with subscriptions
In 1998, ESPN entered the direct subscription game by launching:
Eventually, ESPN gave away ESPN Insider with the magazine subscription to fuel engagement on the website. Fast-forward to 2018, when ESPN merged Insider with live-sports programming and exclusive originals to launch ESPN+.
Will the paywall work?
Since launching in April 2018, ESPN+ has amassed 8.5M subscribers.
However, Rob Litterst — a Hustle contributor who writes the pricing strategy newsletter Good Better Best — found the bulk of ESPN’s growth was tied to 3 big events:
Can ESPN+ keep pulling in subs with its in-house talent and not just splashy events?
- Airbnb might list on the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE).
- UK-an’t: The UK is rolling out legislation that would make foreign takeovers of British companies more difficult.
- Senator Amy Klobuchar — an Attorney General hopeful — said a Google breakup should “be on the table.” No word yet if she’’ll snuff the Google Meet button out of existence.
- LETS GO! Gagan Biyani — co-founder of Udemy and the Trends Ideation Bootcamp — is building a platform for cohort-based learning (AKA learn with a peer group).
- Way better than Black Friday: China’s Single’s Day shopping extravaganza brought in $75B and, insanely, included 800k homes for sale on the Tmall platform.
- Bonus: TikTok… it’s banned. It’s not banned. The sky is up. The sky is down… we don’t care anymore. The Hustle will (maybe) never write about this cursed app ever again.
Etsy’s growth hack: face masks
Put your hand up if you bought a face mask this year from Etsy — the handmade and crafts goods platform.
You would not be the only one.
Etsy’s recent Q3 earnings release showed $2.6B in gross merchandise sales for the quarter, of which 11% were for masks.
Here’s a more tangible number: Etsy slanged 24m masks in the September quarter!
The mask effect is pulling in more sellers and new products
While the mask selling was a big pull in April, Etsy has continually added new sellers through the pandemic, according to research from Marketplace Plus.
It’s on pace for 1.9m new sellers this year (vs. 1m in 2019) and its product catalog has grown from 60m to 80m products.
“The increase was across the board,” notes Marketplace Plus, “with Home & Living, Art & Collectibles, and Jewelry departments leading.”
Come for the mask, stay for other handmade items
For 2020, Etsy is on pace for gross merchandise value of $8.5B to $9B, an 80-90% increase from 2019 (it’s worth noting that some Etsy mask sellers have been warned about making medical claims).
Investors have clearly noticed: $ETSY is up 4x since its March lows and is now valued at ~$16B.
In what will surely go down in business history books, Etsy is the first company to reach 10 figures in revenue while allowing the sale of “Doll Arm Earrings” (happy Friday the 13th)…
This new compliance software just got #1 product of the day on Product Hunt
How’d Secureframe lock down the top spot on Product Hunt?
With one seriously simple and powerful sales pitch:
Secureframe’s compliance software lets your business get enterprise ready (including SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliant) in a fraction of the standard time. Here’s how:
- It monitors and collects data from 25+ difference services (including AWS, GCP, and Azure) to get a full view of your operations
- It automates hundreds of manual tasks, reducing wasted hours and the need for contractors
- It offers real-time alerts to notify you when an issue needs fixing, plus gives you detailed guidance on exactly how to correct it
Because they do this all for you, your business gets — and stays — compliant faster and easier than ever before.
Do words like “audit”, “infrastructure”, and “certification” terrify you?
Then check out Secureframe and never worry again.
The Masters is the Super Bowl of golf. Here’s how it’s adapting to the pandemic.
Web Smith is a leading writer on ecommerce. In a classic piece titled On Linear Commerce, Smith explains how the lines between media and commerce are blurring.
Instead of creating products looking for end customers, organizations with built-in audiences (e.g., media ventures) can leverage this relationship to sell an assortment of products.
To illustrate his point, Smith writes about his experience at the Masters golf tournament (AKA the Super Bowl of golf).
Rabid fans + a historic golf course = captive audience ready to spend
Held in Augusta, Georgia, the Masters attracts 160k+ visitors (called “patrons”) over the course of a weekend and — per Smith’s analysis of the 2018 tournament — the average attendee spends $700 on merch with total sales hitting $60-70m.
But with the pandemic madness, how does “a tradition unlike any other” — which kicked off yesterday, sans patrons — maintain its air of exclusivity?
By launching its first-ever virtual Masters shop.
For patrons only — not us plebes
In addition to access to Masters-branded staples like golf shirts, cuff links, and umbrellas, 2020 ticket-holders receive tickets to next year’s tourney at this year’s price…
… and the opportunity to buy the glorious-sounding “Taste of the Masters” food platter, which gets you 1lb of the event’s famous pimento cheese, as well as its egg salad and pulled pork BBQ for a mere $150.
The Masters also did a solid for non-ticket holders, releasing new viewing functionality on the website and app called My Groups.
Even without the on-course roars IRL, The Masters is still running a, err, masterclass in linear commerce.
Have you had a dramatic career change?
Did you quit a law firm to be a sommelier? Leave a marketing gig to build furniture full-time? Swap engineering for architecture?
The Hustle wants to hear from those of who’ve had crazy (or not-so-crazy) career pivots.
What inspired you to take the leap? How long had you been in your previous profession before switching? Looking back, are you happy you did it?
Please take a minute or 2 to fill out our survey here.
We promise something tasty will come out of this.
Slow antivirus scans are killing your team’s productivity
And you don’t need that — what you need is CrowdStrike.
Say goodbye to constant updates, endless reboots, missed threats, and all the stuff that makes protecting your company and employee devices a nightmare.
With CrowdStrike’s fast antivirus and endpoint protection, you get:
See for yourself with free access to their platform here (no credit card required).
|Speed up your security →|
Build Once, Sell Twice: $1m in 18 months
Last week, Sam met Jack Butcher. Sam claims he’s one of the most interesting people he’s ever met. Here’s the TL;DR on Jack:
- Jack moved to America at age 22, after studying design in England
- After five years of freelance work, he started his own agency
- 18 months ago, Jack launched his first digital product. Now, he’s making $1m/year.
You might recognize Jack for his impressive graphics on Visualize Value, where he’s built up an audience of 300k across social channels.
This week, Sam interviewed Jack in an exclusive podcast where they discuss:
- The economics of agencies and opportunities for new, profitable agencies
- How to build an online course, including how Sam built a course that made $200k in 30 days (and what Jack would do differently)
- Courses making $$$ that you wouldn’t guess
- How Jack plans to turn his course business into a large media company
Your $1 trial will get you the entire episode, plus weekly Trends reports and access to our community, full of builders just like and including Jack himself.
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Category: Beer News
Beeeeeeeeeer Frommmmmmmmmm Spaaaaaaaaaace!
MEI was founded in 2006 and is now cranking out drinkable products produced from ingredients that have flown in space courtesy of suborbital rockets.
[One] MEI beverage offering is Comet’s Tail Amber Ale using yeast that flew into space. It was premiered earlier this month at a popular Albuquerque brewery.
Read the entire article at LiveScience.com.


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STA Travel Announces World Traveler Interns!
Third time is a charm
Today we launched the 2012 STA Travel World Traveler Internship website! It’s hard to believe this is now our third year working with STA Travel on one of their biggest campaigns of the year. As always, we’ve enjoyed working with STA Travel on creating a new design for the website and launching the program.
This year, STA Travel has decided to “up the ante” and send two sets of lucky interns on three trips over the year...
Follow the STA World Traveler Interns!
A Visit from the World Traveler Interns!
The recently chosen STA Travel World Traveler Interns paid us a surprise visit at the office before leaving on their trip...
2011 STA Travel World Traveler Internship Launches!
On Tuesday, we launched the 2011 STA Travel World Traveler Internship website. This is our second year working with STA Travel on the program and we’re excited as ever to be a part of it again.
For those that aren’t familiar, every year STA Travel chooses two Interns from a group of applicants and sends them around the world for the summer. Along the trip the Interns take photos, record videos, share updates via , and blog, sharing all of the content on the World Traveler Internship website...


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Actor Mark Wahlberg, who in 2018 added auto retail to his business repertoire, has expanded his dealership ownership with a Buick-GMC store in Columbus, Ohio.
Wahlberg and partner Jay Feldman, a Michigan dealer, have purchased Haydocy Buick-GMC. The dealership, renamed Mark Wahlberg Buick-GMC, is across the street from Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet. That's the former Bobby Layman Chevrolet store that Wahlberg and Feldman purchased in July 2018.
The latest transaction included an Airstream and RV dealership in Columbus, which has been renamed Mark Wahlberg Airstream & RV.
"Columbus has been so welcoming and it just made sense to grow our automotive platform here," Wahlberg said in a statement. "The Haydocy family has been wonderful to work with during this transition and Jay and I are looking forward to doing big things here."
Feldman, CEO of Feldman Automotive Group, with more than 10 locations in Michigan and Columbus, said two years ago that he and Wahlberg were looking for more dealership locations.
Feldman, in a Zoom videoconference in April about a hospital donation, told reporters that purchasing the Buick-GMC store across the street from Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet was a "perfect fit." He said then that the closing had been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"We love the Columbus market. It's been amazing," Feldman said. "When we bought the dealership almost two years ago, I had never really spent a lot of time in Columbus. But since we've been there, I've fallen in love with Columbus. It's a great town."
Wahlberg and Feldman, who met in 2013 in Detroit while Wahlberg was filming the fourth installment of the Transformers movie series, also are business partners in several Wahlburgers restaurants. In addition to burgers, dealerships, acting and producing, Wahlberg is active with a movie production company, health and wellness company and a water brand.
Tim Lamb Group handled the dealership buy-sell transaction.
Jennifer Vuong contributed to this report.


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By Grace Vasquez
I love Halloween! It’s a thing I’ve had since I was kid and clearly I haven’t grown up because I still dress up, we dress the house inside and out, and even my furry kidz get costumes! Thinking of costume begins for me months before October. Well, now there’s a poll that has found certain costumes may lead to some extra curricular activity, wink! wink!
So heads up this Halloween! While lots of women like to get a little sexy for Halloween, according to this report, fellas may want to be a little suspect about what their gals decide to dress up as, because the spooky holiday is also a big one for cheaters. Okay, wait a minute, what?
A new poll finds that 66% of women are more likely to cheat on Halloween, and the costumes they choose could be the reason.
So, what costumes are likely to make women stray? Well, the top costumes for cheaters include:
- Sexy nurse
- Zombies, mummies and monsters
- Voluptuous vampire
- Air hostess
- Playboy bunny
- Police woman
I can see “cheaters” wearing the sexy this or that costume but hey, I’ve been a “voluptuous vampire” and I did not stray! I’m calling shenanigans on this poll. I”m sure there’s been a person dressed as librarian that strayed. (Oh, wait, some librarians have a little somethin’ somthin’ going on!) ~grace


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Vermont Gas is warning its 50,000 customers about a bill payment phone scam. In a wave of calls taking place over the last two days, customers received a call saying they have not paid their bill and they should call an 800-number to pay immediately or risk having their natural gas turned off.
These calls are not from Vermont Gas and the number to call is not an authorized Vermont Gas number. Vermont Gas works with customers and does not demand credit card information over the phone. If a customer receives a call like this, they should call Vermont Gas at (802) 863-4511 and speak directly with one of our customer service representatives.
Further, customers receiving such a call are encouraged to report this scam by contacting the Vermont Attorney General’s Office Consumer Assistance Program at 800.649.2424.


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LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Citigroup Smith Barney cut auto-parts supplier Lear Corp. LEA, +0.56% to sell from hold and slashed its price target to $28, citing headwinds from higher resin prices and potential near-term shortages of polyurethane foam for seats. In addition, the broker told clients that higher resin prices make divestiture or strategic partnerships for Lear's interiors business more difficult.
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Administration officials told The Huffington Post yesterday that another 700,000 individuals have signed up for Obamacare in February, bringing the total up to the 4-million range. The goal, however, is 7 million by the end of March, meaning in one month they'll have to sign up another 3 million.
"With individuals and families enrolling in coverage every day, we continue to see strong demand nationwide from consumers who want access to quality, affordable coverage," reads a statement from the administration quoted in The Huffington Post.
"Consumers are shopping and enrolling in plans on HealthCare.gov every day; system error rates are low and response times are consistently less than half a second. Our call center has handled more than 12 million calls so far and is open 24/7 to assist consumers in English, Spanish and more than 150 languages."
The spin may be a bit optimistic, and the administration still refuses to release (or says it doesn't have access to) demographics (how many young people to offset the older, sicker enrollees?) or the percentage that so far has actually paid a premium out of the 4 million signees reported. As well, Cyber-security experts still consistently warn that personal data on HealthCare.gov is easily penetrable by hackers.
The 4-million enrollment figure does not include people who have enrolled in Medicaid, which is free to those who qualify.


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September 3, 2021
BIG 5G Event, Denver – COVID-19's impact on manufacturing and the supply chain has had a ripple effect on the global economy, which is why Verizon's keynote on its private 5G network for the UK's largest shipping port resonates with enterprises and consumers alike.
"Just a small hiccup – and we've even seen massive disruptions in the past few months – can really cause huge delays across industries, which in turn has big economic repercussions," said Jennifer Artley, SVP of Strategic Initiatives for Verizon Business, in a keynote yesterday morning. "Our supply chains, and the roads, rails, airways and waterways that keep our goods moving have to work together efficiently to keep global commerce afloat."
Figure 1: Verizon Business SVP Jennifer Artley delivers the opening keynote at day 2 of the BIG 5G Event in Denver.
In 2015, the port industry invested about $400 million in IoT, and increased that investment to over $1 billion in 2020, according to Deloitte's Global Ports Trend 2030 report.
"That level of investment is what set the stage for the global ports industry to be able to innovate today," said Artley.
Artley explained how Verizon partnered with Nokia to deploy a private 5G network for Southampton, the largest of the 21 Associated British Ports. ABP's ports combined handle 85 million tons of cargo, help generate 10% of the UK's electricity and contribute £7.5 billion a year to the UK's economy.
ABP approached Verizon about upgrading its Wi-Fi network, which only had intermittent coverage and was unable to provide connectivity throughout the port. Verizon's solution was to deploy a new 5G private network because 5G connectivity would be more cost effective than an extensive fiber buildout, said Artley.
Spectrum used at the UK port is 3.7GHz , which is similar to the midband C-band in the US. The network spans seven transmission sites running Nokia equipment, whereas the port's Wi-Fi network uses 200 access points.
"With that private 5G network, [ABP] enabled real-time analytics, workflow management, critical asset tracking and much greater efficiency across the entire ecosystem," said Artley. Southampton alone employs 45,000 people, transports about 1 million vehicles and nearly 2 million passengers travel through the port. The port also contributes around $2 billion to UK's economy.
Artley said the port's first application for the private 5G network will be for drone operations. The port plans to use drones to quickly inspect cranes after storms, rather than human inspectors, in order to allow the port to more quickly resume operations. Further, Verizon officials said the port also plans to sell access on the network to customers passing through its location.
Artley also looked ahead to future applications for the private 5G network at Southampton. This port is the access point for all cars from one, unnamed US car manufacturer to distribute their vehicles throughout the UK. Artley invited the audience to imagine a time when those cars can be offloaded and distributed from the port to their final location via autonomous driving. — Kelsey Kusterer Ziser, Senior Editor, Light Reading
About the Author(s)
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realme Malaysia Introduces Latest “Stay Real” Apparels And Accessories
The folks at realme Malaysia has recently revealed their latest apparel and accessories in collaboration with a host of brands such as Bwave, Supecrew, DrMister, Lord, Kittieyiyi, Eversince and many more.
Aiming to be a technology lifestyle brand that provides high-quality stylish apparel and accessories, here’s what Tiffany Teh, Brand Manager of realme Malaysia has to say “As a young brand, we are innovators, adventurers and have never been afraid of any competition because of our Dare to Leap spirit”.
She also adds “We are bringing our fans some unique accessories with the best-in-class qualities and most stylish designs to connect with realme’s spirit.”
The latest addition from the brand includes limited edition realme bucket hats, dare to leap t-shirts, realme Buds wireless and power banks.
The realme Buds Wireless is the latest accessory from them, which they’ve worked with famous music director and DJ, Alan Walker. He has been working closely with realme in bringing the best possible experience.
All of these new products will be introduced soon, as well as their price, when realme launches their new smartphone, the realme XT on the 30th of October 2019.
You can also stand a chance to win the brand new device itself and prizes worth up to RM50,000 from now till 10th November 2019 at the realme Fashion Store at Mid Valley Megamall.
Pokdepinion: Wireless buds? Collaboration with Alan Walker? Man, I want to test them out!


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Fairfield robbery: How it happened
Updated 5:14 pm, Friday, April 12, 2013
Police and federal authorities are investigating a Meriden home invasion that ended up as a robbery/burglary of a Fairfield jewelry store late Thursday evening.
Nearly $5 million in jewelry and other items was taken in the heist, police said.
Sometime after 9 p.m. Thursday, at least four masked men carrying guns broke into a Meriden apartment and took four people hostage. All of the victims were bound and gagged with duct tape.
Two of the victims were left in the apartment, the two others were driven to Fairfield where the Lenox jewelry store was robbed.
None of the victims was harmed. The unknown suspects are being sought by police.
According to information released by both Fairfield and Meriden police departments, here's how it happened.
Information will be updated when it is made available.
Two management-level employees close the Lenox Jewelers store at 2379 Black Rock Turnpike at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and drive home to Meriden in one of the men's 2009 silver BMW.
The drive from Fairfield to Meriden takes about 40 minutes.
When they arrive at Apartment 71 at 120 Gravel St. in Meriden the two men are confronted by four or five men wearing masks and carrying guns and forced inside, where they are bound and gagged.
Police aren't sure whether the robbers followed the Lenox employees home or were lying in wait for them there.
The intruders ransack the apartment and steal a handgun.
With the home invaders still there, two acquaintances of the victims arrive at the apartment. They are forced inside and also bound and gagged.
Meriden police say "the relationship between any of the victims is not yet known," but Fairfield police say the apartment is leased by the company that owns the jewelry store for its store managers.
A short time later, the two store managers are taken out of the apartment, blindfolded and put them into the BMW belonging to one of the victims.
The suspects drive the victims back to the Fairfield store, arriving sometime around 10 p.m.
The suspects force the managers to open the store using a key and their access codes to open the safe.
Police say between $4 million and $5 million in jewelry and other items is taken by the invaders, who leave the victims bound and gagged in the store and flee in the BMW, a model 528 XI ,with Massachusetts plates 96NV02.
At 10:51 p.m., the men in the store quickly free themselves and call 911.
A minute later, Meriden police receive a 911 call from the two hostages left behind in the Gravel Street apartment.
Fairfield police review store video surveillance footage and work with the FBI and several law enforcement agencies across the country that have investigated similar robberies.
On Friday afternoon, acting on a tip, Fairfield police find the getaway car on Mill Plain Road.


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South Africa has been nominated in varied classes on the 2021 World Journey Awards (WTA).
Final 12 months, the Maldives cemented its popularity because the definitive secluded sanctuary to win World’s Main Vacation spot for the primary time. Portugal additionally carried out strongly, with Madeira voted World’s Main Island Vacation spot, Lisbon named World’s Main Metropolis Break Vacation spot and The Algarve selecting up World’s Main Seashore Vacation spot.
SA nominated on the 2021 World Journey Awards
Now, Desk Mountain, Robben Island and the V&A Waterfront have been nominated among the many likes of Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro and the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
South Africa additionally bagged nominations within the Main Airport class, Main Vacationer Attraction, Main Cruise Port, Main Seashore Vacation spot, Main Metropolis Vacation spot amongst many extra.
Journey professionals, the media and customers are invited to vote for his or her favorite journey manufacturers after voting opened throughout all areas worldwide for its twenty eighth annual programme. Voting will stay open till 9 August 2021.
“Classes cowl your entire spectrum of the journey and tourism business, and vary from resorts, resorts and locations to airways and tour operators,” their official web site states.
“Most of the people and journey business executives alike are eligible to vote and may solid their vote through the WTA web site. The nominee in every class that receives essentially the most votes shall be introduced because the 2021 World Journey Awards winner.”
At the moment celebrating its twenty eighth anniversary, the World Journey Awards was established in 1993 to acknowledge excellence throughout all sectors of the tourism business.
The complete record of classes and nominees for the 2021 programme may be seen here.
WTA launches #Collectively initiative
With the reopening of worldwide borders on the horizon and the worldwide vaccine rollout gathering tempo, the World Journey Awards additionally launched its #Collectively initiative with the purpose of galvanising the restoration efforts of the worldwide journey and tourism financial system.
On 20 Might, World Well being Organisation (WHO) director warned that progress against the coronavirus pandemic remains “fragile” and international travel should be avoided.
“Proper now, within the face of a continued risk and new uncertainty, we have to proceed to train warning, and rethink or keep away from worldwide journey,” WHO’s European director Hans Kluge mentioned, earlier than including that “pockets of accelerating transmission” on the continent may shortly unfold.
That’s why the World Journey Awards launched #Collectively which serves as an ongoing useful resource of knowledge, sensible recommendation and insights from the journey business’s thought-leaders and decision-makers to assist the collective restoration by uniting the business as a worldwide unit, pooling collective information and fostering cooperation.


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The news from Reuters has spread like wildfire: President Donald Trump supposedly said he wants to drive out all German cars from the U.S. This originated with German magazine Wirtschaftswoche, which used numerous anonymous U.S. and European diplomats as sources.
Many are questioning the validity of the report, and rightfully so. That’s not to say Trump is being misquoted, but the magazine certainly isn’t backing up its bold claims with strong sources.
Probably fueling this is the fact that the Trump administration last week started investigating vehicle imports. It might conclude with up to a 25 percent tariff on foreign cars. The basis for this would be to guard national security. That would be an interesting move, to say the least.
Plenty of cars from German brands are built in the U.S. Some are sold here, while others are exported around the globe. That fact doesn’t seem to be accounted for in the initial report. It did mention there’s a trade deficit between the U.S. and Germany when it comes to vehicles, and it’s big.
The new imported metals tariffs just announced could have a big effect on German automakers, among others.
This whole issue is wrapped up in plenty of emotions. Some people love what Trump reportedly is going to do, while others hate it. Without official word yet, this may turn out to be much ado about nothing. But, then again, it might not.


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US microchip maker Intel is buying Israeli driverless technology firm Mobileye which could give it a dominant role in the autonomous-driving sector.
Trump sidelines CNN, calls the network "fake news" during first press conference since his 2016 election victory
BMW is teaming up with Intel and Mobileye aiming to put self-driving cars on the road by 2021.
Intel is buying Altera for 16.7 billion dollars (approximately 15 billion euros) in its biggest purchase to date. The world’s largest chipmaker
US microchip maker Intel has been told it will have to pay a record 1.06 billion euro fine handed down five years ago by competition
Some of the biggest technology names are suffering because of the shift to mobile computing from traditional PC-based systems. Intel’s shares
The head of the computer chip giant Intel is to retire next year. Paul Ottelini has been CEO since 2005. The company that dominates personal
ASML, Europe’s largest chip-equipment maker for the semiconductor industry, is inviting its customers to financially back its research and


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The large illuminated G hanging above the intersection of Greenpoint and Manhattan avenues often signals the start of the winter holiday season, but this year, the festive display is in jeopardy. Typically underwritten by small businesses throughout Greenpoint, the Greenpoint holiday lights display may not raise enough money to fund the installation and electricity during 2020.
“Local businesses cannot afford to fund the Greenpoint Holiday Lights this year. This means that Manhattan Avenue will be dark this holiday season,” reads a dire warning on a recently-launched GoFundMe campaign to fundraise for the holiday lights. Greenpointers Bess White and Nektarios (Nick) Giannios started the campaign, knowing independent businesses are struggling to stay afloat, and may not have extra funds to donate this winter.
The Greenpoint Holiday Lights GoFundMe has a goal of $20,000 to help ensure the lights will be well-funded, and family-owned businesses won’t have to overextend themselves financially. In the past, the display has cost over $35,000, all of which was funded by local businesses and independent donors, many of whom Nektarios, the owner of Greenpoint Floral (703 Manhattan Ave.), solicited himself.
“For the first time in the history of the Greenpoint Holiday Lights, we are reaching out to all members of the community for help. If enough individuals and families come together, we can make sure that our great neighborhood is the site of much-needed cheer for all to enjoy,” White and Giannios wrote. “Your donation, large or small, will help to turn the holiday lights back on. We have the best neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City, and therefore the world! Let’s come together to bring some much-needed light to the darkness this winter.”
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InCrowd Caps Impressive Growth in 2018 by Answering its 2.5 Millionth Question
With brand health and data quality driving growth, InCrowd’s market insights platform helps life science organizations to create value, innovate, and transform healthcare
WATERTOWN, MA February 13, 2019—InCrowd, pioneer of the real-time market intelligence platform for the life sciences, concluded another year of impressive business growth in 2018 by answering its 2.5 millionth “question” posed by biotech, life sciences, and medical device firms to its “Crowd” of healthcare professionals. The milestone reflects increasing awareness that managing brand health through fast, reliable, quality insights is a strategic imperative for gaining a competitive advantage.
“We’ve experienced stronger, scalable growth, spread across more and more clients every quarter, allowing us to deliver greater value to our customers and the market faster,” said Janet Kosloff, InCrowd CEO and co-founder. “After moving to our new corporate headquarters in early 2018 to accommodate our growth we organized around a new product approach with a goal of honing our commercialization efforts to bring value to customers faster. And we’ve kicked off 2019 stronger than any year to date.”
Notable accomplishments achieved in part from InCrowd’s customer-focused strategy include:
Innovation—InCrowd continued to evolve its market-leading, insights on-demand platform, bringing greater respondent personalization and advanced analytics to market in 2018 with features such as carry-forward answers, skip logic, and cross tabulation reporting, among other platform advancements. InCrowd also continues to expand on-demand qualitative research with its new DIY qualitative solution, InCrowd Interview—currently in use with early adopters.
Growth—InCrowd added more than 100 new brands in 2018 and is now a key partner in managing the health of 300 life science brands. With more than 20 new life science firms on its roster of marquee clients, InCrowd now serves 40 of the top 100 global pharma companies. Fortifying its existing team of talented insights experts, InCrowd brought on executive-level hires including a new head of product, several director-level positions in product, client success, and analytics, as well as seasoned business development leaders.
Recognition—The pharmaceutical marketing magazine PM360 named InCrowd Interview one of the most innovative products of 2018 in December. InCrowd Interview also received a Bronze Stevie Award in November for Best New Product of the Year from the American Business Awards’ Women in Business program. PM360 named InCrowd a finalist in its annual Trailblazer Awards in August, a program commending industry commitment to change and corporate social responsibility. The Boston Business Journal recognized InCrowd as one of Massachusetts’ top mobile technology companies in April.


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Conor O’Brien, Analyst, Prohibition Partner
October 15, 2021
The number of medical cannabis sales in the Netherlands fell in the first half of 2021 and continued a downward trend that began in 2018 when insurance reimbursements in the country ceased. The number of medical cannabis patients has also declined since then. However, the increasing total value of sales and volumes sold to pharmacies from 2019 to 2020 suggest that individual patients may be using more medicinal cannabis each year.
In the Netherlands, fewer patients are prescribed medical cannabis
The data recently published by the Dutch Foundation for Pharmaceutical Statistics (SFK) for the first half of 2021 show two important trends in the medical cannabis market in the Netherlands: sales are falling and the popularity of cannabis flowers, as opposed to oil, is increasing. The Netherlands is the third largest medical cannabis market in Europe after Germany and Italy, so trends in this country are important to understanding the industry across the continent. The number of medical cannabis dispenses in the Netherlands peaked in 2018, around the time the National Health Care Institute recommended prescribing medical cannabis due to a lack of evidence of its effectiveness. This had the double effect of stopping medical cannabis insurance reimbursements and discouraging doctors from prescribing medical cannabis treatment.
From 2019 to 2020, the total number of patients receiving medical cannabis declined from 11,000 to 9,000, consistent with a decrease in dispenses. A spokesman for the SFK told Prohibition Partners this week that “the number of first prescriptions has fallen more than the number of follow-up prescriptions,” meaning the decline was mainly due to a decline in new patients, not current patients receiving treatment abort . These patient numbers reflect a fraction of the total patient population in the Netherlands. In 2018, the Dutch government’s Lifestyle Monitor survey showed that only one in ten medical cannabis patients received cannabis on prescription, while the rest was obtained from coffee shops, street vendors and home-grown ones.
Source: SFK, Prohibition Partner
Another possible reason for the decline in patient numbers and sales could be the presence of 564 coffee shops in the Netherlands that offer non-medicinal cannabis at affordable prices, but under a legally gray state “tolerance policy”. Coffee shops also have the advantage of offering a wider range of cannabis strains and product formats than pharmacies, which are limited to just five strains made by the only domestic commercial breeder Bedrocan on behalf of the Dutch Medical Cannabis Agency (OMC), which also has an export monopoly. Medical cannabis oil can be made from these strains, but is available at only four pharmacies, with only one offering oils with a THC content of over 2%.
Medical cannabis price cut in September 2021
From September 2021, the government cut the price of cannabis, both domestically sold and exported abroad. Depending on the number of grams dispensed, patients now pay € 5.50 per gram of cannabis flower, plus VAT and prescription fees, when ordering 5 grams. Pharmacies have more control over the prices of oils. The OMC told Prohibition Partners that cannabis will now be exported at a price of € 5.30 per gram for a 5 gram order.
On behalf of the Dutch Agency for Medical Cannabis, Nicole Groot Bruinderink told Prohibition Partners: “Due to the positive (financial) results of the OMC in recent years, the OMC has been able to lower the price of medical cannabis.” A wide range of prices are paid for cannabis in competing coffee shops; the EMCDDA has set the average in coffee shops at € 4.40, but Marian Hutten and Serge de Bruijn of the PGMCG have stated that a lot of cannabis is sold in coffee shops between € 7 and € 20. Hutten has also pointed out that due to the high amounts of medical cannabis required by many patients, a small price cut would not convince many patients to get medical cannabis on prescription and that only a full refund would be provided for this and the availability of more Could support varieties.
Patients were left behind
Prohibition Partners spoke to Marian Hutten and Serge de Bruijn from the Dutch Patient Group Foundation (PGMCG) yesterday about these trends:
“The Netherlands has a backward system of regulating medical cannabis,” said Hutten. “If we look at Germany with a more recent system of medical cannabis regulation, there are around sixty varieties of medical cannabis available, while in the Netherlands we are stuck with five. These five don’t work for everyone, they certainly don’t work for me, and that unnecessarily restricts patients. In addition, based on the recommendation of the National Health Care Institute, patients are not offered reimbursement, so cannabis remains unaffordable for many. The result is that many patients are left to their own devices, either growing themselves or shopping in coffee shops and on the black market. The lack of legal protection for medical cannabis patients in the Netherlands makes it very difficult to be a patient here. Medicinal cannabis patients are losing their homes for growing their own cannabis or losing their driver’s license for using legal drugs, and that has to change. “
Change product formats
As can be seen in the graph above, the relative market share of medicinal cannabis flowers in contrast to extracts rose to 55% in the first half of 2021, from a low of 44% of sales in 2017. While the number of sales of flowers dominates, It should be noted that the market share is still heavily weighted on oils in terms of value, as these are priced higher in the pharmacy.
For comparison: the market share of flowers in contrast to extracts in the reimbursed cannabis sales in Germany is also around 55%, but is declining and was 75% in September 2019. The downward trend in the number of oil dispenses since the end of 2017 is likely due to the fact that the prices for oils are significantly higher than for the treatment with flowers and only one pharmacy offers THC-rich extract products.
Sales value increases
While the number of patients and dispensing is falling in the Netherlands, the volume and sales value have increased in recent years. The latest data provided by OMC to Prohibition Partners shows that the amount of medicinal cannabis sold to pharmacies for distribution to patients has increased after a decline in 2018
Source: Dutch Agency for Medical Cannabis, Prohibition Partner
In addition, according to SFK data, the value of medical cannabis sales increased from 4.7 million euros to 5.1 million euros from 2019 to 2020. Neither OMC nor SFK were able to provide data on sales value or weight from 2021. It is worth remembering that the market share of the more expensive oils is falling, so the increase in value is not due to rising medical cannabis costs.
Instead, it appears that the amounts of medical cannabis purchased by every medical cannabis patient increased from 2019 to 2020. Neither the OMC nor the SFK were able to explain to the prohibition partners why individual patients may be consuming more legally prescribed cannabis.
Delays in cannabis regulation
Several developments in the regulation of medical cannabis and adult cannabis have been delayed, not only by COVID-19, but also by the failure of the ruling parties to form a coalition; the Netherlands has been without a ruling government for over six months. The OMC had already planned to run a tender online for two medical cannabis breeders that would offer new strains to patients, but no progress has been reported for months and it is unclear when new breeders will come online.
Similarly, the process by which 10 municipalities would offer fully legalized cannabis for adult consumption is still online (see The European Cannabis Report: 6th Edition for more on this). PGMCG’s Hutten has pointed out that this program has stalled due to COVID-19 and the lack of an incumbent government.


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By Jan Chaiken and Marcia Chaiken
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect in 1994 and effectively made the US, Mexico, and Canada into a single trading zone without tariffs for many products, or lower tariffs than applied to other trading partners. While the treaty was originally envisioned as a mechanism for creating new employment opportunities and enhancing working conditions and standards, its main impacts were an enormous increase in the amount of goods traded among the three nations and a sudden spurt of Mexican nationals moving to the US for employment (a migration that ended after a few years but left a large residue of Mexican citizens living and working in the US). NAFTA also stimulated the creation of entirely new methods of production between the US and Mexico. US companies export intermediate components to manufacturing companies in Mexico, which assemble the finished product and export it back to the US. As a result, now over 40% of the content of goods imported into the US from Mexico is of US origin. This form of cooperation has helped make US businesses more globally competitive,
Even before he was elected president, Donald Trump declared NAFTA to be the worst trade deal ever made, and after he took office, he initiated renegotiation of the treaty. A revised treaty was signed by the presidents of the US and Mexico and the prime minister of Canada on November 30, 2018, a date chosen specifically because the next president of Mexico, an outspoken opponent of NAFTA, took office the following day. In addition, the Democratic party had already been elected to a majority in the US House of Representatives, but the new members had not yet assumed power to assert their objections to the treaty. This effort by the signers to nail down a new treaty in the face of obvious forthcoming impediments did not succeed, and eventually the trade negotiators returned to the bargaining table. The revised version of the new treaty was ratified by the Senate of Mexico in December 2019 and by the US Congress and President by the end of January 2020. Canada waited for the other parties to act on revisions, and now the ratification process has begun in Canada but may take several months more. The new treaty will take effect 90 days after all three countries have ratified it.
The renegotiated treaty is called USMCA in the United States and T-MEC in Mexico. (The government of Mexico always invents more pronounceable acronyms!.) All told, what are the changes? Despite the bombast and rhetoric that arose from interested parties, the new treaty is remarkably similar to NAFTA. The main effect of enacting a new treaty is to end uncertainty as to whether there will be any treaty at all going into the future – if NAFTA had been simply terminated, the normal operations of many companies would have been thrown into substantial chaos.
Among its changes are a requirement that more components for vehicles be produced in the three countries in order to avoid tariffs, and a provision that 40% of each vehicle must eventually be produced by workers who earn at least $16 US per hour (about 3 times as much as is currently paid to the average Mexican factory worker). Trump has touted this provision as necessarily returning more automobile production to the United States and a subsequent increase in jobs for Americans. But if average wages for Mexican auto workers go up by increasing the salaries of industry administrators, low paid jobs will remain in Mexico and prices for U.S. cars and trucks will noticeably rise.
The treaty also gives US dairy farmers access to a larger proportion of the Canadian dairy market than in the past. In particular, more American cheese, milk and butter can be sold in Canada. Correspondingly US consumers will have access to more Canadian dairy products. Canadian sugar can also be marketed in the U.S.
Perhaps ironically, the most sweeping changes in the new NAFTA were proposed, not by the Trump administration but by Democrats in the US Congress. These included provisions related to new labor laws in Mexico that will allow Mexican workers to form independent unions, prevent forced labor, and have increased control of their contracts. The final USMCA treaty includes benchmarks and inspection protocols that will allow enforcement of the labor provisions. Other late changes to the treaty protect the environment by preventing outsourcing of pollution and related jobs to Mexico, but no specific benchmarks for controlling climate change were included in the renegotiated treaty. The Democrats also won a concession from Trump with a provision change that prevents large drug companies from retaining the rights to a class of extremely expensive pharmaceuticals for ten years and from obstructing the sale of equally effective generic forms of the drugs.
One of Mexico’s main original goals in negotiating a new trade agreement was to update and modernize the list of products so as to include ones that didn’t exist when NAFTA went into effect or that had changed substantially in their nomenclature or mode of manufacture or distribution since 1994. The text of the new treaty covers a variety of digital products and intellectual property rights that were not previously included.
Although the ratification of the new NAFTA provides more certainty in the Mexican, American, and Canadian markets, true to his style of governing by chaos, Trump inserted a sunset provision in the treaty. Any one of the three partner countries can pull out of the treaty six years after all have signed and, after a substantial delay, leave the trading partnership. But, by then, the Trump administration will be over, gone; it is hoped that North America and the rest of the world will be back on track to improving global prosperity rather than serving strictly corporate interests.


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Videocon has just launched a new smartphone in the crowded sub Rs 6,000 budget smartphone arena in the country called the Z51+ Nova for Rs 5,799. The budget smartphone has a 5-inch display and runs Android 4.4 KitKat. Videocon would be hoping that the smartphone gets it the attention its been trying to get in the budget smartphone arena for a while now.
The smartphone has nothing out of the ordinary on offer and has a set of specifications that can be found on any budget handset. The only aspect which might attract some people is the fact that it has an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera. Let us quickly take a look at its specifications:
Videocon Infinium Z51 Nova+ specifications
- 5-inch IPS display, 854 x 480 pixels
- Android 4.4 KitKat
- 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM
- 8GB internal storage, expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB)
- 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, 5-megapixel front camera
- 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and dual SIM
- 2,000 mAh battery
The smartphone has been made available in grey and blue colours. At a time when budget smartphones are shifting to Android Lollipop, launching a smartphone with Android KitKat might not get Videocon get the traction it would be hoping for.


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Yahoo announced a handful ofon Thursday. Here's a handy guide to who's doing what at the Web company. These changes follow an , which Yahoo says was partly voluntary and partly driven by management decisions.
Chief executive officer
Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang will stay on as CEO, a position he has held since taking over for Terry Semel in June 2007. Yang founded the company with David Filo after creating "Jerry Yang's Guide to the World Wide Web" nearly 15 years ago.
Susan Decker will keep her spot as president. The former chief financial officer and head of the advertiser group took on the role of president at the same time Yang took over the reins at Yahoo.
Ash Patel will head up a new audience products division. Patel was one of Yahoo's earliest engineers and most recently held the title of executive vice president of the company's platforms and infrastructure division. Patel will oversee several consumer products, including Yahoo Mail, Messenger, My Yahoo, the main Yahoo.com page, and Flickr. He will report to Decker.
Go-to-market activity for U.S. region
Hilary Schneider, who joined Yahoo in September 2006, will be in charge of a second group, go-to-market operations for the United States region. She had been executive vice president of Yahoo Global Partner Solutions, a division encompassing Yahoo's sales, corporate partnerships, and online channel groups, a post she held for about a year. Schneider will report to Decker.
A yet-to-be-named executive will head up a third group centralizing and running a Yahoo-wide strategy regarding use of data and analysis. That person will also report to Decker and will be announced in the next few weeks.
Chief technology officer
Aristotle Balogh will stay in his current role, in charge of building and running Yahoo's computing infrastructure. He will now oversee several new groups in the search domain, with David Ku leading the advertising technology group; Prabhakar Raghavan leading search strategy; and Tuoc Luong leading search products on an interim basis.
Venkat Panchapakesan will lead the new audience technology group. The group works closely with Patel's products group to build and run the technology used by that group. Panchapakesan now reports to Balogh.
Another new group will focus on cloud computing and data infrastructure.


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Real estate numbers are finally in for 2021, and they were once again record-breaking! Congratulations REALTORS® on over $2 billion in sales in 2021! That is 45% higher than year-end 2020. Overall 643 more properties sold in 2021.
Inventory is the lowest it has been in MLS history with residential down to 311 units. That is a 44% decrease from 2020. Residential days on market dropped drastically from an average of 110 in 2020 to 52 in 2021. Kill Devil Hills had the lowest days on market with an average of 26 days.
The median sales price for residential units was up $66,552 to $625,000 from year-end 2020 which is a 16% increase. Corolla had the highest residential median sales price of all towns at $725,450. It also had the largest increase in residential median price in 2021 of $165,450 compared to 2020 which was a 30% increase year to date.
Residential year-to-date sales were up 9% with 3,370 units sold, an increase in 281 units sold compared to year to date sales in 2020. Overall, Hatteras had the largest percentage increase in residential sales with 137 more homes sold than in 2020.
Lots/land and commercial units showed similar trends in results as residential regarding sales, inventory, days on market, and sales volume.
Congratulations on a banner year!


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Sir Grout Chicago Hires NewWave Marketing For New PR Initiative
Sir Grout Chicago is now targeting the commercial space as a result the company has partnered with a new Public Relations Firm.
, News affluent real estate
, Jennifer Gerlach
, public relations
, Sir Grout